


What Good Are Wings?

by AlwaysKeepAiming



Category: Fate: The Winx Saga (TV), Winx - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Established Relationship, F/M, Post Season 1, Wings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:55:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29945499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlwaysKeepAiming/pseuds/AlwaysKeepAiming
Summary: Brandon thought he was prepared for anything when he transferred to Alfea. He could handle the training, the pressure, and feeling alone.But wings?Now that was nowhere close to on the list
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Musa/Riven (Winx Club)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 80





	What Good Are Wings?

**Author's Note:**

> So the Netflix show, while having its issues, definitely rewoke my childhood love for the Winx and my favorite couple from the show. I swear, if Riven and Musa aren't together in S2 I will be so mad.   
> This brainchild wanted to provide a way to bring Brandon into the mix, some Riven and Musa Fluff, and a deeper look into the powers of the Fairies. I tagged this AU because this takes place after S1 but there is no Rosalind. I imagine this taking place at the start of Riven & Sky's third year, and the girl's second year. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Brandon supposed he should consider himself lucky. Everyone else certainly did. When he was named one of the five students to transfer from his old school to Alfea, the best Specialist College out there, his peers all called him lucky. At least to his face, behind him, they called him less than nice names and let their jealously flaunt. 

He tried not to let it bother him, telling himself he had earned his spot at Alfea, that they would not have accepted him otherwise. Still, it was a welcome change to leave the bitter whispers and envious glares behind and start the new term fresh. A new change, one he desperately craved. So far, it hadn’t been everything he hoped for. He’d been at Alfea a week and felt like this was all a terrible mistake. Luck be damned. Luck didn't help him as he walked alone between classes, and luck certainly didn't help him recover from the hardest training sessions he'd ever experience. Alfea was nothing like what he'd been used to and adjusting was hard. 

For one, his old school was just a Specialist school. No Fairies. Sure, he’d known and interacted with them growing up, but in his world, they were taught at separate schools. Now he was having to get used to seeing glowing eyes around every corner and feeling the thickness of Magic flow through the halls. And there was the ever-present pressure of finding a Fairy to train in combat with. Almost every other third-year specialist had a pair, and even though it had only been a week, Brandon knew he needed to find one sooner rather than later. 

If dealing with Fairies wasn’t enough, he was also getting his ass kicked every other morning. At his old school, Brandon had a reputation of being one of the best in both combat and strategy. Now he was pathetically run of the mill. It all depended on who he was paired up with if he could take them or not. He didn't have the speed to keep up or the endurance to last. To make matters worse, he lived with probably the two best specialists on campus, both of whom had no problems pointing out his weakness. He'd watch them, desperate to return the favor, but rarely found anything. 

Sky was the all-around golden boy, a brilliant strategist, and clearly, Silva’s favorite, excelling in nearly every facet of training. At least his feedback was kind, and he always offered to help Brandon. His other suitemate was a total ass. Riven, while more of a troublemaker with a temper, was probably the best combat Specialist he’d seen at their age. And Brandon somehow ended up as their third suitemate. Riven and Sky already were close friends, so no matter what Brandon said or did, he always felt like an outsider. 

Especially now, as he returned to his suite Friday after classes, with David and Sarah, two other transfers from his old school. He knew there was a party later that night, so the three of them were planning to hang out for a few hours before heading to the party. The three of them were never very close at their old school, but now they depended on each other more. None of them were having much luck fitting in at Alfea. He’d hope that Sky and Riven would have other things to do and would be out of the room, probably pregaming with other specialists. That was so not the case. 

Sunlight broke through the windows, and the room seemed all too quiet and peaceful, despite having his moodier of two suitemates. Riven sat on his bed, back against the backboard, thumbing through something on his phone. Laying on him was a girl wearing light baggy jeans and had a loose, pink, crop top on. Brandon recognized her from around the school: a fairy. And clearly Riven’s girlfriend. 

She laid in between his legs, eyes closed and on her belly. Her head nestled on his stomach, arms hugging him slightly as dark hair cascaded around her in two long pigtails. Their legs tangled together, and they shared a pair of earbuds. Riven barely acknowledged them with a nod of his head as he twirled a lock of her hair in his fingers. It would be an otherwise adorable moment between two people, comfortably cuddling on a lazy Friday afternoon, except for one fact. 

Wings. 

Honest to god wings. 

Riven’s fairy girlfriend has fairy wings protruding from her back. 

What the actual hell. 

Brandon had heard the rumors. Everyone had heard the rumors. Fairies had wings again. Sort of. Some fairies that attended Alfea could tap so deeply into their powers that they sprouted wings in combat. That alone was unheard of until last year, but some fairies were even more powerful. In those cases, the wings became a permanent fixture on the fairy. He'd heard of three of them to be exact, and judging by the relaxed state of the fairy, Brandon had to assume she was one of the lucky three. 

The wings weren’t what he expected them to be. He imagined something small, just like miniature butterfly wings with glitter from some costume store. Nothing too impressive, and perhaps more cartoonish than anything else. He could not be more wrong. Instead, he could only compare them to a dragonfly’s wings, and they were big. Each of the four wings were over two feet in length and sprawled over the bed. Two came from where her shoulder blades met and the other two came from under her shirt.   
The only thing Brandon got slightly right, was how the wings had a light shimmer to them, which intensified as the sunlight hit them. The webbing was a dark purple, almost black, and between the dark webbing, shimmered a lighter purple, more of a lilac. Simply put, they were gorgeous but unnerving. 

“Oi, stop staring at my girlfriend’s wings,” Riven spoke up and Brandon snapped his mouth shut. He hadn’t even realized how he had been gaping. Thankfully, the fairy had barely stirred since they came into the room. Was she asleep? Honestly, it was sweet that Riven let his girlfriend nap on him. For as little as he knew him, Brandon knew for certain about Riven was that he’s a jerk with a short temper. It was quite jarring to see him like this. 

“Sorry.” Brandon shoved David beside him to get him to stop staring as well. Sarah had taken a couple of steps into the room, towards the two of them before redirecting to the large window beside Riven’s bed, pretending to be interested in something out there. 

However, they didn’t react enough to Riven’s satisfaction as he sighed loudly and shut off his phone. “They’re just wings, mate. You ever see a bird before?” He and David shared a long look, uncertain on how to answer that. The wings looked nothing like a bird's.

Luckily, they didn’t need to as the fairy spoke up, “I’m not a bird.” She mumbled, not opening her eyes even a little. So, not sleeping. Brandon racked his brain for her name. The two names he heard Riven and Sky talk most about were Bloom and Musa. He knew Bloom was Sky’s girlfriend, so if he had to guess, this was Musa. 

Just like that, Riven’s attention was pulled away from us and put solely on Musa. “Sorry M, insect? Bug? Flying squirrel- Ow!” He flirted until Musa reached up and pinched him on the arm. They settled back down, Musa still on the cusp of sleeping and Riven dropping the pigtail in favor of stroking her back down her spine. 

Brandon did his best to try and act like nothing was weird and put his school bag away. It certainly didn’t help that David tripped over the edge of the sofa and Sarah kept stealing glances from the window. The vibe in the room had switched to an awkward thickness that engulfed Brandon. He didn’t know what to do or say to make anyone feel comfortable. 

All he could think of were a million questions moving through his mind. Could she fly? How’d she get them? He’d seen her on campus but never with wings, where did they go? 

One of the wings twitched as Musa switched the side of her head that she laid on and opened her eyes to look out at the room. Brandon could have sworn he saw a hint of purple dying in them as she blinked a few times, “Your confusion is exhausting. Ask your questions.” She had a bluntness that clearly made her compatible with Riven. 

“What?” Brandon studied the fairy, who had looked at him as if she were waiting on him. As if she knew that he did in fact have questions. How in the hell did she know? 

Musa propped herself up and rested her chin in her hand. She kicked up her legs as she began spouting off details Brandon had no idea how she’d know. “You’re confused, but scared, with a dozen questions trying to get up the courage to ask. Between the three of you, there is so much feeling about my wings it is physically draining. Let’s deal with the elephant in the room so I can get back to napping. And I’d rather deal with your questions than her disgust and his,” She gestured first to Sarah by the window before looking at David. She seemed puzzled, unable to decide on a word before finally settling on “Attraction?”

Both Riven and Brandon immediately turned to stare at David, although Riven’s was more of a glare. Brandon did not miss how his grip tightened on the fairy in his arms. Not exactly surprising, Riven seemed like the lot to get jealous, and perhaps a tad protective. “What the hell?” 

David, to his credit, only spurted a few times before stammering out, “I am not attracted to her.” 

The only response that got was a harder glare from Riven and a nonchalant shrug from Musa as she switched songs on her phone. “He’s lying. But it’s not attraction to me, it’s my wings” 

Seeing as her wings were still attached to her back, Brandon failed to see the difference. Sarah coughed and darted her eyes between Musa and David, “Okay, now I’m confused. How did you know that?”

“Mind fairy. Can we circle back to the attraction?” Brandon couldn’t believe the words he heard come from Riven. Just then, Sky ducked into the suite, assessing the situation, but he could give little focus to the tall blonde. Only two words bounced around his head.

“Mind fairy? Can you read our minds?” Brandon gasped, suddenly feeling very foolish and very exposed. If Musa was in his head, hearing all of his thoughts, that would be devastating for any sort of relationship between him and his suitemates. Crap.

A loud groan erupted from Musa as she buried her head in Riven’s chest. “That’s not how it works. Why does everyone always think it works that way?” 

“It’s kind of a misleading title, but what are we talking about?” Sky smiled at Musa before looking around, trying to gauge the situation. So much for a peaceful Friday afternoon. 

“My wings.” To enunciate that point, Musa lifted up one wing causing a light purple to sparkle on the wall. 

“So, we are just glossing over the fact he finds Musa hot?” At this point, everyone, including Musa, was ignoring Riven. Especially David who clearly wanted the conversation to move on and never return to his apparent attraction to wings. 

“I’m an empath.” Musa pushed herself up and spoke with deliberation and precision. “I work with emotions. What you feel, I feel.” 

“That’s a bit of a simplification.” Riven scoffed, seeming to drop his other fixation for the moment, as Musa settled back against his chest, her eyes already closing. His glare remained tight on David, as did his grip on her waist. Probably would be a good idea to not bring David by for a while, and hope the two were not going to be paired up for training anytime soon. 

Sky leaned against his desk with his arms crossed, “To be fair, you should get used to wings. Bloom has them too. Just think of them as legs. That can fly” Pretty much everyone in the room stared at the blonde who seemed content with his comparison. 

It ended up being Musa who spoke up, “That might be the worst comparison I have ever heard.” Sky’s grin broke into almost a frown as she shot that down. However, Brandon did have to agree with Musa on that one. 

“How can anyone just get used to this?” Sarah reached out a finger towards the wing dangling off the bed, onto the windowsill. Everything slowed down for Brandon, as he knew this would not end well but could do nothing to stop it. He barely had time to open his mouth to utter the first syllable of her name before Sarah stroked the wing. 

The touch must have been startling, and general chaos broke out as Musa quickly flapped her wings in surprise. The dorm filled with wind as papers flew up, and hair was rustled in every which way. Musa’s wings brought her to a standing position at the foot of Riven’s bed, one knee lifted and the other foot hovering inches above the bed. 

“What the hell!” Riven yelled, also springing off the bed. Brandon’s eyes widened at the sight of a fairy in action, ignoring the mess it caused in their small room. As quickly as she reacted to the touch, Musa lowered herself to the ground. Yeah, definitely can fly.

“Sorry!” She grimaced looking around at the mess. Her wings trembled before wrapping around her in the most unusual fashion. The bottom two curved around her stomach, crossing in front, while the top two flipped forward over her shoulders and wrapped around her arms. Suddenly the loose crop top made sense. It allowed her wings to lay almost flush against her skin. It almost looked like an intricate, dark purple tattoo that just so happened to shimmer in the light.

Grabbing a baggy sweater from Riven’s desk chair, she quickly covered her wings, “I’m going to go.” She spoke primarily to Riven, but darted her eyes, burning a bright purple, around the others. “It’s too much. I’ll see you guys tonight.” She forced a smile but her exit from the room left it feeling very uncomfortable. 

Sky let out a long breath, leaning over to pick up some papers from the ground. Brandon felt frozen in his spot, unable to speak, let alone help. “Way to go arsehole.” Riven glared at Sarah. 

“I didn’t know she would react like that!” Sarah quickly jumped to defend herself. 

Riven took two steps towards her, “Yeah, and how would you feel if someone grabbed your hair-.” 

“Or leg!” Sky popped up, shuffling a stack of papers into a more organized pile. Riven shot a look back to him, but Sky seemed to still like his analogy of wings to legs, that fly. “You just startled her and none of them have great control yet. Wings are new to all of us, especially them. We just try to treat it as normal as possible.”

Rolling his eyes, and ignoring Sky, Riven glared at Brandon, David, and Sarah in turn, “Whatever, leave Me and Musa alone.” 

With that, he left the room, arms crossed tightly. Sky offered a shrug before heading out after him. Well, if his suitemates didn’t hate him before this, they certainly did now. 

The party that night was exactly how he imagined it would be. Loud music, different colored lights flashing, body sweat, and enough cheap booze to drown a small army. With all the beer pong and dancing, Alfeans certainly knew how to party. He walked in with David and Sarah but quickly left them at the booze table. He had another mission for the night. 

He had to make things right with his suitemates, and to start, he needed to make things right with Musa. 

Thankfully she wasn’t hard to find. She sat in an alcove near the dance floor, away from all the chaos from the horny teenagers grinding on each other. Unfortunately, she wasn’t alone. On either side of her stood two other fairies, a blonde and a redhead, all actively talking to each other. All three had some form of wings, out for everyone to see. 

Swallowing the beer in his cup, he mustered up his courage and approached the three fairies. Musa must have sensed or perhaps just seen him coming, as he didn’t have time to say anything before he had all three fairies looking at him. The blonde fully eyed him up and down as she cocked a hip to the side. She must have heard all about the fiasco early and definitely had thoughts about it

“Hey.” He finally choked out, feeling rather self-conscious. The gaze of the three fairies caused his face to feel flushed. Hopefully, any redness could be blamed on the alcohol and hot temperature of the room, not his embarrassment. Of course, with an empath, that might be harder to pull off. 

“Hey,” Musa nodded, waiting to see if he would say anything else. She had changed into a red plaid skirt and a black tank top. 

“I wanted to apologies, for earlier.” After he spoke, came the longest moment as the three girls shared looks with each other. The three of them must be close friends, perhaps even suitemates. 

Brandon didn’t even breathe as his future with his suitemates was decided. Finally, Musa offered a shrug and a small smile, “It’s fine, besides, you probably were the least at fault.” 

Oh, thank god. It would be so much easier to get Riven and Sky to get over this if Musa was alright with him. The blonde flipped her impossibly long hair over her shoulder and he got a whiff of maybe strawberry? But he couldn’t focus on that. 

Swallowing the dryness in his throat, he wished for another beer. His first stop after this conversation, “Still. I didn’t help. And I hate to say it, but David and Sarah are too scared of Riven to even approach you right now.” He knew Sarah to be too proud to admit she crossed a line and David too spineless to even dream about approaching Musa again. An apology from them probably was not going to happen anytime soon. She’d have to settle for his, but at least his was genuine. 

The blonde scoffed, “If I were Riven, I’d kick their ass. Both of them, and still maybe yours,” Even with her thinly veiled threat, Brandon couldn’t help but find her beautiful. Something about her eyes captivated him. 

“And who says I’m not going to?” Riven appeared from behind him, two red solo cups in hand. Sky was right beside him, balancing three cups in a triangle. The extra cups were quickly dispersed between the three fairies. 

“Ignore him, I’m Bloom and this is Stella.” Bloom offered him a large smile as she leaned against Sky. So this was the fairy who could turn Sky into a love-sick puppy. He heard Riven teasing Sky about that more than once this week. 

“Brandon. Nice to meet you all.” No one had offered a hand, so he just waved, rather awkwardly. Riven started to laugh at him but was quickly silenced by Musa whacking his stomach with the back of her hand. At least Musa seemed to be okay with him now.

“How do you like it at Alfea?” Bloom asked. 

“I like it. I was ready for a change, and a challenge. Still am.” Brandon couldn’t help but eye Stella again, only to find her doing the exact same thing. Once their eyes met, she quickly looked away, becoming too focused on sipping her beer. 

“I want to dance,” Musa announced, jumping off the alcove ledge, wings pointing down to the ground. He hadn’t noticed it earlier, but she had a rather petite frame. She grabbed Riven’s hand to get him to follow her.

He resisted, complaining “We just got drinks,” Musa seemed undeterred especially as Bloom nodded along to her suggestion. 

“And we can dance with drinks in our hands.” She announced rather loudly, finally getting Riven to take a few steps along her. She stopped right by Brandon and let go of Riven’s hand to lay hers on his shoulder. “And you, in payback for your friends earlier, you can escort my friend here to the dance floor.” Pulling his shoulder down, she lifted on her tiptoes to whisper, “Don’t worry, she’s single.” 

Sky and Bloom had already left to join the dancing crowd. Musa practically skipped as Riven followed, chugging his beer as he went. That left just Brandon and Stella. Lights flashed off her golden wings, giving Brandon a burst of confidence. 

“Shall we?” He extended his hand to her. Stella pretended to ponder it but smiled as she took it. 

For the first time since finding out he was transferring, Brandon felt as lucky as everyone claimed him to be.


End file.
